Hydraulically controlled cowling ring for aircraft



March 25, 1947. w, D! E 2,417,945

HYDRAULICALLY CONTROLLED COWLING RING FOR AIRCRAFT I Filed May 5, 1944 INVENTOR W. D. PARKER WMM ATTORNE Patented Mar. 25, 1947 HYDRAULICALLY CONTROLLED COWLING RING FGR AIRCRAFT will n. Parker, Eartlesville, Okla, assignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Application May 5, 1944, Serial No. 534,299

This invention relates to a means for controlling the ventilation of aircraft and it has particular relationship to a ventilating cowling means for controlling the air flow around an aircraft engine and therebycontrolling the temperature of said engine.

- One object of this invention is to provide temperature control for an aircraft engine without adding parasitic resistance.

Another object is to provide a means for controlling the now of air around an engine which is simple and positive in action and which fits in with the fine streamlining of the fuselage or nacelle at all times during its operation.

Another object is to provide a movable cylindrical cowling disposed to act as a valve controlling the flow of air around an aircraft engine.

Numerous other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the accompanying specification and claim and upon studying the drawings.

In the drawings Figure 1 is an elevation view of the fuselage or nacelle of an aircraft embodying my invention with the movable cowling mounted on the nacelle or fuselage proper and with parts broken away to show details of construction.

Figure 2 is a similar View of another aircraft embodying a modified form of my invention in which the movable cowling is mounted to slide relative to the stationary engine cowling.

Many modern aircraft are provided with cowling flaps which may be adjusted to control the temperature of the engine. The patent to Duff, 2,124,333, of July 19, 1938, is representative of such present construction, Under certain flight conditions or when taxiing on the ground it is desirable to open the flaps as much as to provide sufficient ventilation to keep the engine cool. In twin engine and multi-engine aircraft when one or more engines are inoperable it is necessary to open wide the cowling flaps on the engine or engines that are still running. Due to the high parasitic resistance of these open flaps, efiicient operation of the engines that are still running is not possible, and if the flaps are closed to reduce the parasitic resistance, the engines immediately become hot, lose power and may have their pistons seize in the cylinder. These running engines may soon go out of operation because of said overheating.

In the devices of the prior art if a standard flap becomes loose at any point it may soon become damaged due to the vibration unless re- 1 Claim. (Cl. 123-171) paired. The standard flap also causes considerable friction and interference with the air stream passing over it. For example, the speed of a twin engine airplane is slowed as much as 7 M, P. H. when cruising at 180 M. P. H. with the flaps open as much as As it is obvious that the invention may be applied to an engine in a nacelle out on a wing or to an engine mounted in the fuselage of an aircraft, I hereby define the word nacelle as generic to both nacelles and fuselages and when the word nacelle appears in the remainder of the specification and in the claim it is to be regarded as either a fuselage or a nacelle, regardless of whether they are designed to accommodate members of the crew, or passengers, or whether they do not provide for the presence of human beings.

In Figure l, a nacelle 3 is provided with the usual internal framework 4. Framework 4 reinforces nacelle 3 and on framework 5 is mounted fire wall 5. Following the general construction, engine 6 is rigidly secured to fire wall 5 and the fire wall is in turn secured rigidly to framework l, Engine 6 may be any known type of aircraft engine and drives propeller 1 by any known means.

Surrounding engine 6 is stationary cowling 8, which stationary cowling may be secured in the usual manner to fire wall 5 by braces 9.

As 'is customary in such aircraft construction nacelle 3 has a streamlined nose portion ll disposed to provide a space between parts I! and 8 for the passage of cooling air around the engine. The stationary cowling 8 is provided with a hole l2 in its central front portion and as the aircraft proceeds through the atmosphere the air stream created by the movement of the aircraft and by propeller 1 passes in hole l2 around motor 6 and out the space between parts 8 and H. What has been described in the last three paragraphs in relation to Figure 1 is standard construction and it is to this standard construction that I have applied my invention which will now be described in detail.

In order to control the flow of air through hole l2 and between 8 and II I have provided a cylindrical sleeve l3. Sleeve I3 is mounted to slide easily on nacelle 3 from a forward position in which sleeve I3 substantially closes the space between 8 and II and back along nacelle 3 until the space between 8 and H is substantially unobstructed. In both extreme positions, the streamlined contour of the stationary cowling and the nacelle is substantially perfect, resulting in a minimum of parasitic drag, and in intermediate positions there is no interference with the air stream around the outside of the structure and very little or no interference of a parasitic nature caused by the projection of sleeve l3 into the space between 8 and l i.

The friction between cylindrical sleeve l3 and nacelle 3 may be reduced by such meansas roller l4, Roller 14 is mounted on the inside of nacelle 3 and rotates relative to nacelle [3, A minor portion of roller I4 projects through opening l5 and contacts with sleeve l3. While only one roller M is shown, it is obvious that as many may be provided as found desirable and they may be arranged in rows or other suitable configurations. Obviously other antifriction means known to the art may be employed between sleeve l3 and nacelle 3 in place of roller l4.

Nacelle 3 is provided with slots 16 and secured to sleeve 13 and projecting through slot l6 are one or more, but preferably three or more, fins 11. Fins I! provide means for moving sleeve l3 axially of nacelle 3 in combination with any desired movement producing means.

As shown in Figure l, fins ll have links l8 pivoted thereto and links l8 are in turn pivotally mounted on a ring 19. Ring [9 is maintained in upright position but it slides upon rods 2! which may be a portion, or may be mounted upon, framework 5. Ring is in turn may be secured to a ring or plate 22 by means of a plurality of rods 23. Ring or plate 22 may in turn be guided by rods 24 which may be mounted on, or be a part of, framework 4.

Ring or plate 22 may be moved axially of the nacelle by any suitable means and as an illustrated embodiment, rod 25 and handle 28 may be provided, rod 25 being shown as guided in a fire wall or instrument board or other part 21.

In Figure 2, a nacelle 28 is shown having a streamlined nose portion 29 on the "forward end of which is mounted an engine (not shown) and a stationary engine cowling 3| in the usual manner old in the art. The motor (not shown) may drive propeller 32 and stationary cowling 3| is provided with a central opening similar to 12 of Figure 1. The air stream passing in this opening passes back to the atmosphere between parts 29 and '3! and the amount of air returned is controlled by themovement of sleeve 33.

It will be noted in Figure 2 that cylindrical sleeve 33 is mounted by axial sliding movement on stationary cowling 3! and-cowling 3! has an extended portion 3 3 teles'coped in sleeve 33 so that when sleeve 33 is moved back into contact with 28 a streamlined exterior will be presented, and inall other portions a streamlined exterior will be presented except for the space between 33 and 29 out of which the air used in cooling the engine is exhausted. The result is substantial elimination of parasitic drag at all positions.

The usual antifriction'device such as roller M may be employed between sleeves 33 and 3d. Sleeve 33 has rods 36 attached thereto for moving the sleeve and rods 36 may be moved by any suitable means such as-that already shown inFigure l, but in Figure 21 show a hydraulic cylinder 31 for moving each of rods 35. Rod 36 has in this instance a piston head on "its end and this piston head is driven back and forth in cylinder 3? by fluid supplied by pipes 38 and 38 in the usual manner.

It is obvious that rods 3% could be joined, by some sort of connecting means such as rings 19 or Figure l and that a singlehydrauliccylinder could be used. Obviously an electric solenoid 4 7 (not shown) or any other suitable motor means could be employed in place of hydraulic cylinders 31, and each desired hydraulic cylinder 31 could be a pneumatic cylinder.

Sleeve 33 could be made in sections, either short cylinder sections independently movable, or into arcuate sections independently movable, but I prefer to make the sleeve 33 in a single cylinder in order to reduce vibration. My invention lies in having sleeve 33 lie at all times in substantially the same cylinder plane as the surface of nacelle 3 or 28 and the rear portion of stationary cowling 8 or 3|.

Operation of Figure 1 In Figure l, sleeve I3 is closed in starting up engine 6 but as the engine tunes up sleeve I3 is drawn back by pulling on handle 26 and is left open, while taxiing the aircraft and while taking off. In flight, handle 26 is adjusted to keep the temperature of engine 6 at a proper level. In a multi-motored aircraft when one of the engines ceases to operate, the handle 26 on such engine may be pushed forward to close the space between 8 and it completely, thereby reducing parasitic drag caused by air passing around'engine 6. On the other hand, the motors which are taking the added load may have their cowling (3 open wider and such wider opening of the cowling does not increase the parasitic drag as would be the case using the present type pivoted expanding flaps as explained above.

The operation of Figure 2 is similar to that of Figure 1 except that the operation of sleeve 33 may be performed by remote control by means of a fluid such as kerosene or glycerine being pumped in the proper pipe 38 or 39. It is contemplated that automatic thermal control of sleeve 33 may be achieved by thermostatic controlled motors drivingpumps in pipes 38 and 39.

Obviously, numerous changes in design and construction of the parts for operating the cylinder sleeves may be made by, those skilled in the art without departing from the .present invention, the scopeof which is defined only by the following claim.

Having described myinvention, I claim:

An aircraft nacelle comprising in combination a first fixed element comprising a nacelle body having an inwardly tapered end, an engine mounted on said end, a second fixed element comprising a stationary cowling mounted :in fixed spaced relationship to said nacelle body, said cowling extending around said engine, 'meanscontrolling the how of air between the stationary cowlingand the nacelle bodycomprising a substantially cylindrical sleeve lying in substantially the same cylindrical plane ,as and movable relative to the outer surface of said stationarycowling, said sleeve being guidedat all timesby contact with at least one of said first and second fixed elements whereby fluttering is substantially suppressed, said sleeve being movable axially of the nacelle body from a positionsubstantially completely closing the space between the stationary cowling and the nacelle body o0 a position allowing sumcientair flow through said space to eifect substantial cooling of said engine, andremote control means for moving said sleevecomprisinghydraulic cylinders secured to at least one of said fixed elements, a plurality .oi rods secured directly to said sleeve, and pistons mounted on said rods'and received in'said cylinders, said'rods,

pistons, and cylinders having their longitudinal axes substantially parallel to the axis of move- 5 ment or said sleeve, whereby easy movement of Number said sleeve is obtained. 2,178,960 WILL D. PARKER. 2,212,094 2,289,616 REFERENCES CITED 5 The following references are of record in the N b file of this patent: 2:5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 335285 Number Name Date 10 1,907,454 Squires May 9, 1933 2,081,762 Nissen May 25, 1937 2,124,333 Dufi et a1 July 19, 1938 2,175,535 Mercier Oct. 10, 1939 7 11- Name Date Gagg Nov. 7, 1939 Adolph Aug. 20, 1940 Wojcik July 14, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Italian Jan. 19, 1940 British 1930 OTHER REFERENCES A. P. C. App. to Ramshorn, Ser. No. 326,141, filed Mar. 27, 1940,

pub. May 11, 1943, Class 

